Update on sleeping in "big girl beds"

So last night went pretty well.......I checked on the girls before I went to bed after midnight and Sofia was still sleeping soundly in her bed and Olivia made it back to the floor --- in front of her own bed this time. She can be a light sleeper so I made sure she had her blanket and I left her there.

Fast forward to 5am when we hear Sofia (their cries are pretty distinct now) sort-of crying. They'll do that sometimes so we give them a few minutes to see if they go right back to sleep or if it's one of the "Hey - I'm awake come get me" sort-of crying. D's first thought........"Let's just bring them and put them in our bed." Um. What? "I really hope you're sleeping and not thinking about what you're saying!!"

So I walk down the hall and I can see Sofia standing at the gate in their doorway holding on to the rungs at the door with her blanket. When I told her she needed to go back to bed, she turned around and headed back over towards her bed, stopping to lay down on the pillows in front of her bed. I put her in her bed and sat there with her.........and by this time Olivia is awake and is crawling in to Sofia's bed as well. I let Olivia stay there and I thought they both were going back to sleep. I started slowly making my way to the door but Olivia caught me and came over and crawled in my lap.

I put Olivia in her bed and asked her why she was crying. She just sat there and looked at me. I gave her a book and just sat on the floor -- I didn't make her lay down, but I did make her stay in her bed. She finally gave up trying to get out and started flipping the pages of her book. Olivia loves books. She sleeps with books like they're stuffed animals - it's so funny and kind of cute. I could hear her counting as she turned the pages --- all fine - she was in her bed!

When I got up to get ready for work, Olivia had fallen asleep in her bed and Sofia was still sound asleep.....on the floor in front of her bed!!!

So! It could have gone a little better, but it definitely could have gone much much worse, too. We'll take it. I'm anxious to hear from D how nap time goes today.........why do I have a feeling that nap time will consistently be in our bed from now on?!?!?!?!

Big change #1

I said in a previous post that the girls have some pretty big things coming up over the next several months. And big change #1........moving out of the crib. My sister thinks we're insane......and if I think about it for too long, I probably would agree - haha! There's definitely logic to our madness and after talking about it, we decided it was time to jump in.

Today I spent the day cleaning out their room.....glider and ottoman, diaper genie, trash can and side table -- gone. Dressers - fully checked over to ensure they were secure. Clothes basket - stored in the closet. CD player - moved to the top of the tall dresser. All outlets covered. And last but not least......all loud toys removed and replaced with books and quiet toys!

We gave it a try at nap time and had okay results. A 2-hour nap (after some coaxing by Mommy and Grandma).......not quite success for sleeping in the beds. See.

But that's okay! They still slept! I put those pillows in front of their beds to catch them should the fall, but they had other ideas!

Tonight is the first night-time sleep in the new beds. The girls played outside all afternoon and were worn out. And you better believe that was totally planned! After baths and brushing teeth, we headed to bed......Sofia laid down quickly. Olivia.......not so much. She gets really cranky when she's tired. Really cranky. We put her in her bed and she got up and went to Sofia's bed and laid her head at the bottom of Sofia's bed while kneeling on the floor. I put her back in her bed....and back to Sofia's bed she went. I finally decided I would just leave her as long as she wasn't bothering Sofia. When I turned around to leave, Olivia had moved to laying on one of the pillows in front of Sofia's bed.

We left her crying (and Sofia still quiet) and she cried for about 5 minutes, but I never heard her standing at the gate to their room. (If you've not seen pics before, we've always had a gate at their doorway to keep the dog out.......and sometimes to keep them in - ha! - so this wasn't something new to them) I count that a success. Just as I was about to go upstairs to console Olivia, it got really quiet and we didn't hear a peep from her again. (Nor did we hear any other unusual noises or crashes indicating she had found a way to start some trouble!)

Before D went to bed he checked in on the girls and he said Sofia was sleeping in her bed and Olivia was still sleeping on the floor in front of Sofia's bed. D picked her up and put her in her bed and she's still there as I type! I'll save the celebration because it surely would jinx us!!!

Wish us luck.......big change #1 is underway!

Repeat performance and other

Keep your fingers crossed, my friends, that we're on to something with the sleeping. Last night they slept from ~9:30 until 4am. I'll take it!

In other milestone news, they're starting to hold on to things. They don't reach for toys yet, but my hair is a particular favorite. Apparently an infant reflex is that whenever there's pressure in their palm it causes babies to open their hands. Losing this reflex means that when you put something in their hand, they can now grasp on to it. And wow what a grasp! When I've been holding them and then I lay them down, they have a tight grip on my hair or my shirt - so tight that I have to use both my hands to get them to let go!! Strong girls, but we knew that!!

Speaking of sleeping....here are my sweet sleeping girls. Olivia-L and Sofia-R.

Until next time!

Super Sleeping

I know it's waaaaay to early to be celebrating and I certainly don't want to jinx us, but I sure do hope we're on to something with the sleeping thing. We've started putting the girls in their bed after the 9pm feeding - not trying to force a sleeping schedule but hoping to help them start realizing the difference between night and day. Sometimes they're not having it and we don't leave them in there to cry it out, but most of the time they're happy to be there and they go right to sleep.

Last night they went down around 9:45pm and I fell asleep. Imagine my surprise when I woke up at 3:45am and they were STILL SLEEPING!!!!!!!! I went back to sleep and the girls kept going until finally almost 5am. Say it with me......EIGHT HOURS (update -- after going back and doing the math, it's not quite 8 hours, but hey - I was rounding up)!!!!!

Sleep, babies, sleep!!!!!

Precious sleep......

The girls slept last night from ~1:40am to......wait for it.......SEVEN a.m.!!! I couldn't believe it!!!!!

Small (although temporary) victory

We had a small victory last night............the girls skipped their 3am feeding - woo hoo! When we first brought them home from the hospital we would set the alarm clock to make sure we fed them and we quickly realized the alarm wasn't necessary. These girls were set on a very solid 3-hour schedule and they would wake up usually ~10 minutes before the 3rd hour. Amazing how they know. So we abandoned the clock long ago and haven't thought about it since.

Last night it was 1:30 by the time they stopped stirring so we all went to sleep. Imagine my surprise when Olivia cried and I looked at the clock to see it was 5:45am. Now I know they can do it - haha. I expect D and I will be up at 3am willing the girls to drink faster, but I'll take a small victory no matter how temporary!!